Question
Hi, I've had a nepenthes for three or four years that I keep in my office near an east window. It's doing great - it pitchers regularly and the largest vine is probably a good 6 or 7 feet long with the next largest at about 4 feet. Recently I've been getting a lot of new baby vines at the base, really too many for the pot size and I don't have much room for a larger pot where I have it. I read your previous answers about rooting from cuttings, and I'm thinking of trying it. Is there any potential danger to the mother plant? And also, should I use a rooting hormone in the water for the cutting? Finally, I have some vines that are up to 9 or 10 small leaves but aren't the foot long yet that you recommend. What do you think about cutting those?

Thanks so much for your help!

Answer
Hello Greg,

Taking cuttings off a Nepenthes is basically just pruning the parent plant back and trying to root the resulting cuttings. It is according to species of Nepenthes as to how easy it may be to get the cuttings to root and, if you dont get too carried away with clipping off vine sections, the parent plant should not be harmed. You can clip back the vines that are sticking out too much and just cut them into sections about 8-12 inches long, they do not have to be exactly a foot long, but make sure each section has several good leaves for photosynthesis. You can clip off dead material and pitchers from the sections and clip back leaves from the base of the vine so it will fit in your vase. Place the cuttings in an opaque vase of water near a bright window and keep them hydrated. I have found no real distinct improvement from using a rooting hormone for the cuttings. Different Nepenthes species may benefit from a rooting hormone, but my N. sanguinea does not seem to need it. It will take a month or two for a cutting to root, maybe longer. Just be patient. As long as the cutting is still green, it is doing something. Eventually you will see a tiny bud develop at the growth point above one or more leaves on each cutting and you will see tiny hair like roots growing from the base of the cutting. Once you havesome roots growing, you can pot the vine sections and let them grow. Be aware that the old cuttings will probably brown back yet have a completely normal green vine growing from near the top.

It might be a good idea to let the young vines at the base of the plant grow a bit before clipping them for cuttings.

Christopher